Chapter 751: Hypothetical Stories Meet True Stories

"Are you crazy?!"

Xu Xiaoshou was utterly stunned in mid-air. Was this organization out of its mind? Why did they invite him the moment they met? The Red Coats did it, the Holy Slaves did it, and now Yama was doing it too? Earlier, when fighting the Nine Nether Ghost Infant, Xu Xiaoshou had even considered Yama his primary imaginary enemy. Now, they were also extending an olive branch?

"Are you sick?" Xu Xiaoshou disengaged from his Vanishing Art, appearing with the You Si Sword in hand. The tip of his ominous sword was just a few fingers above Yin Cao's head.

Yin Cao's pupils contracted. He had predicted this, but he didn't expect this person to actually be holding the You Si Sword above his head. All of this was exactly as Lord Huangquan had guessed... Yet, with the other party appearing so calmly, Yin Cao couldn't help but marvel at this kid's confidence. According to his intelligence, Xu Xiaoshou was truly a Xiantian! A Xiantian, pointing his sword at a Cutting Dao expert. Where did this guy get the nerve to appear so directly?

"I'm not sick," Yin Cao said calmly, without looking away. "But it's clear you're somewhat tempted and have accepted my sincerity; otherwise, you wouldn't have appeared before me."

Of course, Xu Xiaoshou couldn't explain that his Vanishing Art was about to fail and he had to appear to catch his breath. He softly sighed, "If you're not sick, then your Lord Huangquan is."

The Yama envoy seemed to be startled for a moment. Immediately, his eyebrows twitched, and he lowered his head. "You're awake?"

Xu Xiaoshou followed his gaze downwards and saw that Hundred Ghosts, who had been lying in Yin Cao's arms, had fully recovered consciousness and woken up under the restoration of spiritual energy. He knew, of course, that this "fake tears flowing" (Hundred Ghosts' acting) had long been awake; it was all an act. If he had truly stabbed Yin Cao's head with his sword, he would then have to face Hundred Ghosts' retaliation.

"Not playing dead anymore?" Xu Xiaoshou looked at Hundred Ghosts.

Hundred Ghosts gave a wry smile. "You are quite clever..." He chuckled to himself, not understanding how, after a Cutting Dao expert had cut off his own aura, he could still be discovered by the other party to have already woken up. But the other party was a strange individual from the Holy Slave organization. Although his reputation wasn't prominent at the moment, his achievements were already quite remarkable. Hundred Ghosts Night Walk held no contempt; instead, speaking in a tone of peer-to-peer communication, he calmly pulled out a sound-recording pearl and infused it with spiritual energy.

"Xu Xiaoshou, I am now sincerely inviting you. Will you join Yama?"

The exact same tone, the exact same pitch. This time, Xu Xiaoshou was certain. Yama genuinely wanted him; Yin Cao wasn't deceiving him.

"Am I really that outstanding?" Xu Xiaoshou smiled and jumped to the ground. In his "Perception," he knew he was still within the enemy's domain and couldn't escape at all. Yet, these two enemies now seemed quite subtle.

"Yes!" Yin Cao nodded emphatically. "Your abilities are strong, and your potential is great. Not only Lord Huangquan, but even I am quite impressed with you right now..."

Xu Xiaoshou directly interrupted, "No need for flattery. Aren't you ashamed, a Cutting Dao expert, to flatter me?"

Yin Cao's mouth twitched. Xu Xiaoshou stepped back two paces, holding the ominous sword horizontally, and frowned, "What benefits would I get by joining Yama?"

"There are so many benefits!" Hearing this, Yin Cao immediately pointed at Jiang Xian: "First, Lord Huangquan said that if you want the Three Abhorrence Eyes, both of them are yours directly. Additionally, besides the Three Abhorrence Eyes, whatever else you desire, Lord Huangquan can acquire for you."

Xu Xiaoshou asked, "What if I want the Flower Immortal Eyes?"

Yin Cao didn't hesitate for a moment: "Flower Immortal Eyes, plus the Cross Heterochromatic Eyes. Whichever you want, you can have; all of them are fine too!"

This time, Xu Xiaoshou was genuinely surprised. Were these people truly insane? He wanted to dig out their eyes, and they would offer them up with both hands?

"Do you think I'm joking?" Seeing his disbelief, Yin Cao added, "To be honest, in Lord Huangquan's eyes, your value is greater than the Flower Immortal Eyes and the Cross Heterochromatic Eyes combined."

Xu Xiaoshou fell silent, then spoke after a long pause, "So, this is the kind of organization Yama is... Does that mean if another person more talented than me wants to join Yama in the future, they can take anything from me, including my life?"

"Uh!" Both Yin Cao and Hundred Ghosts Night Walk were choked speechless at the same time. What kind of logic was this? They were showing Yama's determination and sincerity towards him. His imagination had taken an eighteen-bend detour; where did it go? But in an instant, the two Yama members reacted immediately, and Yin Cao waved his hand, "That's not how it is..."

"No need to say more!" Xu Xiaoshou waved his hand again to interrupt. He didn't want to join Yama at all. If there were no Grand Dao Oaths in this world, he wouldn't mind joining the Holy Divine Palace, the Red Coat, the Holy Slave, the Xu Yue Gray Palace, Yama, and all the other organizations. Wandering among various organizations, possessing intelligence from all of them—wouldn't that be wonderful? But was this world truly that benevolent? Did they really think the leaders of all major powers were fools who would tolerate such behavior? Just the Xu Yue Gray Palace alone required signing a contract with a ghost beast upon joining. Just the Red Coat alone required fighting against ghost beasts upon joining and constantly going on missions. With the leaders of major powers being world-class strategists, engaging in mutual games, how could someone like Xu Xiaoshou, with his meager abilities, dare to gamble with his life like this?

Xu Xiaoshou joined the Holy Slave because the organization's principles largely aligned with his own ideas. Bazun An also granted him maximum authority, allowing him "freedom of action" in a narrow sense. Would other powers be able to do that? Not to mention anything else. If he joined Yama and installed the Eye of the Tear Clan, Xu Xiaoshou wouldn't feel he gained stronger abilities; he would only feel tied to unnecessary karma. Borrowing external power was merely overdrawing the future. Someday, these debts would have to be repaid with a greater cost! Just using a communication bead to summon Bazun An's assistance, incurring such a huge favor, already made Xu Xiaoshou very uncomfortable. How could he possibly join other forces now?

"No need to waste more words..." Xu Xiaoshou waved his hand. "Open your domain and let me go. I won't pursue today's matter with you."

Yin Cao: "???"Hundred Ghosts Night Walk: "???"

Both were stunned simultaneously. After a long moment of processing, Yin Cao finally said, "You took a Three Abhorrence Eye. It seems we're the ones who should be holding you accountable?"

Xu Xiaoshou scoffed, "You two, one a fake storyteller and one a fake 'tears flowing,' meddled with a semi-saint force and now want to pin the blame on my Holy Slave. It's already good enough that I'm not pursuing you. Do you really think my You Si Sword wouldn't dare strike?" As he spoke, he raised You Si Sword. But the threatening posture, seen by the two Cutting Dao experts before him, looked exactly like a baby holding a knife.

Yin Cao burst into laughter: "Xu Xiaoshou, you stole a Three Abhorrence Eye, and you still think you're an outsider, innocent, and can remain uninvolved?"

"This isn't stealing; this is collecting interest..." Xu Xiaoshou said earnestly. "You two impersonated Holy Slaves; it's already not easy that you managed to take one Three Abhorrence Eye. Or let me put it another way!" He paused, then extended a hand: "Give me the other Three Abhorrence Eye, and I'll admit that it was the Holy Slave who acted today, not your Yama. And we'll pretend you were never here."

Yin Cao: "???"Hundred Ghosts Night Walk: "???"

This was an audacious attempt to get something for nothing. At this moment, they genuinely couldn't tell if Xu Xiaoshou in front of them was foolish, or if he was simply treating them as complete idiots!

Hundred Ghosts Night Walk's voice deepened. "Do you really think you can get away unscathed?"

Xu Xiaoshou glanced at him, amused. "What, if you can't recruit me, you'll forcefully act now and silence me?"

"Yes!" Hundred Ghosts Night Walk actually nodded.

Xu Xiaoshou chuckled, fearless. Instead, he retracted his sword and stood sideways: "Then try it?"

"Just try..." Hundred Ghosts' words weren't finished.

Just then, outside Tianqi Forest, an enraged roar echoed.

"Who dares to insult my Jiang family!"

The roar was full of power. Where the sound wave passed, the entire Tianqi Forest seemed to have been swept by a hurricane, dust flying, ancient trees uprooted. Yin Cao and Hundred Ghosts exchanged glances, already understanding that a Cutting Dao guard from the Jiang family had arrived. The other party could only have detected the commotion here because of the momentary void left when Yin Cao withdrew the Tianqi Forest illusion, focusing all his energy on dealing with the semi-saint bloodline mark. Only for that instant, Tianqi Forest was not under Yama's control. It was estimated that in that brief moment, not only the Jiang family's Cutting Dao expert but also the Red Coats and White Coats at the trade fair, and other masters from various locations, could sense the holy power in Tianqi Forest. Their arrival was not unexpected.

"A Cutting Dao expert, and with Tribulation Power!" Yin Cao sensed the newcomer, stood up first, with Hundred Ghosts closely following. Both looked at Xu Xiaoshou, but found him somewhat unfathomable. The Jiang family and Xu Xiaoshou were not allies; the newcomer was clearly not this guy's backup plan. So where did his absolute confidence come from? But now was clearly not the time for such thoughts. Xu Xiaoshou couldn't be taken down quickly, and the two Yama members certainly didn't want to directly clash with the Jiang family's Cutting Dao expert after securing one Three Abhorrence Eye.

"Go!" Yin Cao gritted his teeth, clearly intending to abandon the other Three Abhorrence Eye on Xu Xiaoshou. This Xiantian was fundamentally not a Xiantian on the surface. Lord Huangquan had instructed that if they encountered Xu Xiaoshou and couldn't recruit him or kill him on the spot, they should treat him as a peer. After all, this young man's cultivation was weak, but his ability to preserve his life and stall for time was stronger than that of ordinary Thrones or Cutting Dao experts.

Both transformed at the same time. But just as they thought of escaping, at this moment, their bodies froze in place.

"Huh?" Yin Cao raised an eyebrow, "Can't leave?"

Hundred Ghosts was also surprised. "The space and Heavenly Dao rules here have been altered?" They were Cutting Dao experts. Who could achieve such an undetectable feat, completely changing the spatial rules within their domain, within the range of the Flower Immortal Eyes? In other words, someone had imprisoned the two Yama Cutting Dao experts within their own domain? This is impossible!

"Is it the Jiang family's Cutting Dao ability?" Yin Cao's heart suddenly skipped a beat, but he felt it was highly unlikely.

Whoosh—

Just then, a figure cutting through the wind abruptly entered everyone's sight. It was an old man with white hair, holding a man in one hand and a woman in the other. The moment he landed, his gaze fell upon the unconscious Jiang Xian on the ground.

"Young Master Jiang?" The old man was startled, then his eyes turned bloodshot, and his hair stood on end in anger, "The Three Abhorrence Eyes are gone?"

"Young Master Jiang..." Jiang Qi and Jiang Si, who had been rescued but lost their mobility, stared blankly at the blood-soaked figure on the ground at the same time, completely stunned. They felt it had only been a few breaths. How could the battle have already ended? And Young Master Jiang's Three Abhorrence Eyes were also stolen? At this, both of them felt their scalps tingle, as if they could foresee their own tragic fates.

And Jiang Chaotian, the Jiang family's Cutting Dao guard who had rushed into Tianqi Forest, heedless of life and death, also felt as if he was seeing the grand finale of his own life. He looked around, his gaze settling on the only two figures in the field.

"You did this?" Jiang Chaotian's voice sank to rock bottom, chillingly cold, as if pulled from the depths of the eighteen hells. How could these two Cutting Dao experts, who hadn't even passed one of the Nine Deaths Thunder Tribulations, have taken the Three Abhorrence Eyes?

At this point, Yin Cao and Hundred Ghosts grew anxious. Neither of them had expected the situation to take such a drastic turn, and that someone could actually imprison this space. Seeing Jiang Chaotian's reaction, they also knew that the situation in the field was clearly not the work of the old man in front of them. So, was the person hidden in the dark a Grand Void?

"Speak!" Jiang Chaotian roared, his spiritual energy, rich with tribulation power, surging forth as if an enraged war god had descended from the heavens.

The two Yama members still remained silent, only frantically trying various methods. But the space here was completely locked, as if they had entered another alien world; neither of them could escape.

"Holy Slave?" Seeing them ignore him, Jiang Chaotian's eyes were about to split with rage. But his remaining rationality made him realize that these were not Holy Slaves, but merely Holy Slave imitators with a similar appearance. Clearly, the other party wanted to frame the Holy Slave. Diverting disaster to the east?

"Who exactly are you?!" Jiang Chaotian raged. But he had to figure out the identities of the people in front of him. At the same time, as he questioned them, he set down Jiang Qi and Jiang Si, then flashed over to pick up Jiang Xian, beginning to administer aid as if mending a broken fence.

Yin Cao was annoyed, his temper flaring, and he said angrily, "Stop yelling! You're trapped, you fool!"

Jiang Chaotian's movements faltered. Under a similar perception, he realized that this place was no longer Tianqi Forest, but another space. Because, beyond the borders of Tianqi Forest that his spiritual sense could perceive, it was like the end of the world, with only a chaotic void.

"This..." Was there a third party present?

Xu Xiaoshou, in his invisible state, was almost amused by the conversation between the three Cutting Dao experts. He had already sensed the situation here. This familiar feeling of being imprisoned—ever since the system prompts "Being watched" and "Imprisoned" popped up—he knew his summoned reinforcements had arrived. After all, this scene before him, wasn't it strikingly similar to the second Spiritual Melting Marsh space he and the grey-robed man had broken open, and the second Leaving Sword Grassland world the Red Coat had broken open? The Storyteller was indeed powerful!

Giggles drifted down from the void as the three Cutting Dao experts in front lost their words and desperately tried to save themselves: "My, my, who would have thought? It seems that not only big brother has a human guise these days, but *they* do too?"